Words
by Iorek Byrnison
Summary: They say that the winners are the ones who write the history, but things are never so simple in a shinobi village. Those histories, more so than others, are bathed in blood and deception.


Words

iorekbyrnison

They say that the winners are the ones who write the history, but things are never so simple in a shinobi village. Those histories, more so than others, are bathed in blood and deception. It can't be any other way, really, in a place where men kill other men with brutal efficiency for scrolls, or missions, or orders.

A katana flashes in the woods. It is the only thing that could alert another shinobi to the death call they'll receive.

A kunai on the training fields is stuck in the thick trunk of an old tree. It's gleam is a reminder that there are children in the village training to avoid their deaths by molding chakra into their soles.

An explosion flashes through the night. For a moment it lights up the area. It reveals the shinobi who has killed and the shinobi who has died. An explosive tag, one of the smallest weapons that a ninja can possess reaps the most damage and leaves behind destruction far more devastating than mangled bodies and burnt skin as the faceless shinobi slips back into the shadows.

These items are instruments of war. They are constantly improved upon, constantly made deadlier, more efficient in destroying buildings, landscapes, countries, and people. They forcibly slash history into the very land on which people live.

However, Hokages are merely human in the end. Shinobi are people too. Kunoichi, Genin, ANBU, Chunnin, and Jounin may be able to lose themselves in the shadows, but the results of their actions as people are rarely ever hidden. Each death, each rescue, and each new jutsu, become touchstones in history; lessons of life, of victory, and failure for the next generation to learn.

Words, then, mean so much more than people and things, because words don't rust. They don't die and though the papers they are written on may burn, the words themselves still exist within the minds of those who read and understood.

When a hero dies, words make him a legend.

When the loser dies, words vilify him.

Secrets long kept break free. Laws long written change. Little boys and little girls look to the future, _hope_ for the future that is as fantastical as the words they have read.

"I will become Hokage one day!" He is a bright one.

"Breaking the rules make you trash, but betraying your teammates makes you worse than trash." He taught them little, but he taught them the most important things.

"He's a monster!" They continued the cycle.

"Jinchuuriki." The past. . .

"Demon!" HATE!

"I love you!" She gave him anger in return for his courage.

"My purpose in life. . ." Without a demon, but with a friend where would he go?

"My ninja path. . ." There are no short cuts.

"My cute little students. . ." Look underneath the underneath. His history is more than it seems.

"Only two bells?" What? Don't you get it? Be a TEAM.

"I'm sorry." _Team?_ There's a hole in his chest and the rain patters on.

"Fate is unavoidable." A caged bird wants to spread his wings.

"We control our destinies." Look at _me_ now.

"I promise." I promise.

"I'm sorry." _I promised_.

"I am your father." _Hero_. Who?

"I am your mother." Red. So _so_ red. _Who?_

"It's the law." Hate, hate, hate, _hate_. A sad _sad_ little boy. . .

"Unpredictable." Number one. . .

"Sasuke!"

"Sakura!"

"Kakashi!"

"NARUTO!"

Words, words, words. They form the lives that are lived. They form the values, the jobs, the victories and defeats. They form the people, the shinobi, the Genin, kunoichi, Chunnin, Jounins, and Hokages. Words build the Konohas, the Sunas, the Iwas. Words slash histories into mountain sides, the faces of the past looming over a village, protecting the people.

Who then writes the history? Who ten is the beginning? The end? Who is the winner? The Loser? Who said what? Did words come first, some mystic understanding, or did people?

It all fades away eventually.

It fades. It fades into the relics of the past, into scrolls, and weapons, and monuments. It fades into items for study to determine the future all over again. The people too fade. Those who created, those who destroyed and the soldiers they led become movements, war lessons in school, stripped of all personalities that built them. They are the winners. They are the losers. They are the villages and people and weapons.

They are the words.

_WORDS._

"I will become Hokage one day!" Now they have faith in the sun.

"Then we will die together." Worse than trash?

"He was your teacher!" You_ killed_ him.

"Control the beast inside you." Before you hurt anyone else. . .

Hokage, _Hokage_, HOKAGE! You are getting there. Just push a _little_ more.

"Sasuke!"

_Death_

"Sakura!"

_Health_

"Kakashi!"

_History_

"Naruto!"

_Life_

_Words_.

Okay, Yeah. . . I don't even quite know what this is, but I like it and decided I would share it with you guys. I' started writing this in Psych class if that tells you anything. . .

Anyway, I hope you enjoy. R&R!


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